The present invention relates generally to a technique of detecting a threat such as explosives or contraband chemicals. In particular, the invention relates to a technique of harvesting an inspection sample for detecting a threat from the surface of an object to be inspected.
Security has been increased in various important facilities such as air ports being triggered gravely by previous synchronized terrorist attacks in the United States. Then, also for the technique of detecting a threat based on traces of them such as explosives and contraband chemicals attached on baggages, etc., a technique, for example, of rubbing (or wiping) a baggage with a sheet thereby depositing a sample to the sheet then analyzing the sample by charging the sample together with the sheet in a sample analyzer and then conducting analysis has been practiced.
Techniques relevant to the present invention described in prior patent documents include those disclosed in JP-A No. 2004-212073, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,859,375 and 5,988,002. JP-A No. 2004-212073 describes a constitution of a threat detecting apparatus of excellent operability in which a wiping member with deposition of a sample derived from a threat is included, the sample is heated to be gasified, the gasified sample is ionized, the ionized sample is subjected to mass analysis and the absence or presence of a threat is judged depending on the output signals as the result of analysis. The specifications of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,859,375 and 5,988,002 disclose the constitution of a sample-harvesting sheet used for harvesting an inspection sample used for detection of a threat by rubbing the surface of an object to be inspected, in which the planar shape of the sample-harvesting sheet is deformed so as to have a protruded central portion raised from a peripheral portion and the surface of the inspection object is rubbed by the top end of the protrusion.
In the threat detection system of harvesting the sample to be inspected for threat detection from the surface of an object to be inspected by using the sheet material, for enhanced detectability it is necessary to move (transfer) the sample efficiently from the surface of the inspection object to the sheet material and deposit the sample on the sheet material. In this regard, it is considered that none of the prior arts described above is sufficient.